Philosophical Foundations

of Education
Janeth G. Concepcion
Joy R. Tolosa

Activity
Given the following
situation/instances, as a
teacher, which do you prefer
or focus more? Write the
letter of your choice.

Set I:
5 items

A
1. The teachers
decided what is
most important for
the students to
learn and place
little emphasis on
students interest.

B
1. The teachers
help students
define their own
essence and they
are given a wide
variety of options
from whish/what
subject matter to
choose.

A
2. more on
academic
content of
education

B
2. more on
vocational
courses of
education

A
3. The teachers
focus heavily on
students
achievement test
scores, longer
school day, more
challenging books,
more core
requirement

B
3. The teachers
focus/encourage
individuals
creativity,
potentials and
imagination

A
4. Teachers
should instill the
traditional
approach to
education

B
4. Teachers
show a strong
rejection of the
traditional
approach to
education

5. Math and
5. Humanities,
Natural Sciences Philosophy and
arts for
aesthetics
expression

Set 2:
5 items

Aims of Education

1. Education
develops the
individual
spiritually, mentally
and morally.

1. Provide an
education that
could produce
individuals who can
meet their principal
needs and give
direction to
individuals basic
potentialities and
talents.

Curriculum

2. Philosophy,
2. Natural
Theology, Values
Sciences, Social
Education,
Sciences, Poetry
Christian Living,
( acquisition of
GMRC (essential for
research skills,
mental, moral and
library skills,
spiritual
critical thinking
development)
skills,
application of
principles

Methods of Teaching

3. meditation, 3. scientific
reading,
methods
question and
discussion

Role of Teachers

4. chief source 4. develop

of inspiration,
initiative
knowledge and
and ability
information
to control
their
experiences

Role of School

A
5. develops
moral
character of a
person

B
5. develops
concepts
and
principles
through
scientific
methods

Three Levels of Knowledge natural to man:

Common sense

Science

Philosophy

Philosophy

philo
friend of or
love of

sophia
- wisdom

Etymology
- The introduction of the terms "philosopher" and
"philosophy" has been ascribed to the Greek
thinker Pythagoras.

- The ascription is said to be based on

a passage in a lost work of
Herakleides Pontikos, a disciple
of Aristotle.

- "Philosopher" was understood as

a word which contrasted with
"sophist" (from sophoi).
- Traveling sophists or "wise men"
were important in Classical
Greece, often earning money as
teachers, whereas philosophers
are "lovers of wisdom" and not
professionals.

Other Definitions of Philosophy

It is the science that seeks to

organize and systematize all fields
of knowledge as a means of
understanding and interpreting
the totality of reality.

Good

Other Definitions of Philosophy

It is the attempt to give a

reasoned conception of
the universe and of mans
place in it.

Montagne

Other Definitions of Philosophy

A complete philosophy includes a
world view or reasoned
conception of the whole cosmos,
or a life-view or doctrine of
values, meanings and purposes of
human life.

Leighton

Other Definitions of Philosophy

It is a search for a comprehensive

view of nature, an attempt at a
universal explanation of the
nature of things.

Weber

Summing up, philosophy is a

systematic and logical
explanation of the nature,
existence, purposes and
relationships of things, including
human beings, in the universe.

Main Branches of Philosophy

Metaphysics

Epistemology

- origin and

- deals with
knowledge and with
ways of thinking

essence of things

Axiology

Logic

-Ethics and
Aesthetics

- systematic
treatment of the
relation of ideas

What is Educational Philosophy?

- is a branch of general philosophy

and is concerned with the
interpretation of education in
relation to general philosophy.

Functions of Educational Philosophy

1. It focuses the attention of teachers and
laymen alike on the values and objectives
which the school should aim to achieve.

2. It provides a basis for criticism of the

school system and of the educational
process.

Functions of Educational Philosophy

3. It sets the procedure to be followed in the
reconstruction of the educational program.

4. It helps the educator to organize and

analyze educational objectives.

Importance of Philosophy of Education

to Teachers
1. Provides the teacher with a basis for
making his decisions concerning his work.

2. Helps the teacher to develop a wide range

of interests, attitudes and values concomitant
to his professional life as a teacher.

Importance of Philosophy of Education

to Teachers
3. Makes the teacher more aware of his own
life and work and makes him more dynamic,
discriminating, critical and mentally alert.

4. Philosophy of education saves time,

money and effort.

Oriental/Eastern Philosophies
Philosophy

Origin

Philosophies

Confucianism

Confucius,
China

The Golden
Rule

Taoism

China

Harmony
with Nature

Buddhism

Buddha,
Japan

Enlightenmen
t through
Meditation

Shintoism

Shotoku,
Japan

Behaves in the
Kami No Michi

Oriental/Eastern Philosophies
Philosophy

Origin

Philosophies

Hinduism

India

Dharma

Modern
Hinduism

Gandhi and
Tagore

Ahimsa

Buddhism

Siddharta
Gautama,
India

Eightfold path

Islam

Mohammed

One God,
Polygamy

Filipino Philosophies
Philosopher

Philosophy

Jose Rizal

His Educational Legacy for Todays Society

Education is indispensable to the task of nation
building and must occupy a top priority.
Without education and liberty no reform is
possible.
Beside the duty of man to seek his own
perfection, thereis the desire innate in man to
cultivate his intellect.

Apolinario Mabini

Individuals must develop his faculties of the

intellect and the will, to master his talents
contribute to the cause of justice and ommon good
human progress.

Educational Philosophies
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Idealism
Realism
Pragmatism
Essentialism
Progressivism
Reconstructionism
Existentialism

1. Idealism
- is a term with several
related meanings. It
comes via idea from the
Greek idein (),
meaning "to see". The
term entered the English
language by 1796.

Examples of Idealism:
Utopia- Thomas
More
Cultural RevolutionMaoism

Marxism

Examples of Idealism:
Leninism

Socialism

Thinkers
Plato

Socrates

Rene Descartes

Assumptions
- Emphasize the importance of mind,
soul and spirit.
- Believes in refined wisdom. Based on
the view that reality is a world within
a persons mind.

- Schools exist to sharpen the mind and

intellectual processes.
- One of the oldest school of thoughts
with its origin traced back to Platos
ideas.

Role of Teachers

- Transmitter of knowledge
- Chief source of inspiration,
knowledge and information
- Creator of educational
environment (teachercentered).
- Excellent mentally, morally and
spiritually
- A reserved person/conversant

Models/Strategies
- Lecture-Discussion
Method
- Excursion
- Question Method
- Project Method
- Informal Dialectic
- Meditation
- Reading

Educational Aim
-To develop the
individual
spiritually, mentally, and
morally.
- Education develops the
individual spiritually,
mentally and morally

Curriculum Emphasis
Subject Matter of mind:
- literature
- history
- philosophy
- mathematics
-arts
-Christian Living
-Values Education
-GMRC

 Role of School
- A thinking institution
- Promotes high cognitive
level of education
- Promotes cultural learning
- Develops moral character
of a person

Realism

Harris Broudy

Aristotle

John Comenius

Johann Henrich Pestalozzi

John Locke

Jean Jacques Roseau

 Assumptions
- Reality is what we
observe.
- Experience exists
only in the physical
world.
- Mind is like a mirror
receiving images only
from the physical
world.

 Role of Teachers
- Help develop initiative
and ability to control
experiences.
- Help realize that they can
enter into the meaning
of their experiences
- The students would be
taught factual
information for mastery.

 Models/Strategies
- The use of Scientific
Methods
- Defining the problem
- Observing factors related
to problem
- Hypothesizing
- Testing the hypothesis

 Educational Aim
- Gives direction and form to
individuals basic
potentialities.
- Determines the direction of
the individuals inherited
tendencies.
- Provide an education that
could produce a good
individual and a good society
by meeting 4 principal needs
of an individual.

4 principal needs of an individual

1.

Aptitude needs
2. Self-determination needs
3. Self-realization needs.
4. Self-integration needs

 Curriculum Emphasis
- Study habits
- Research skills
- Library skills
- Evaluation
- Observation
- Experimentation
-Analytical and critical
thinking
-Natural science
-Literature
-Poetry
-Natural science
-Social Science

Role of School
Further develops discipline
Utilizes pupil activity through instruction
Regards the pupils as more superior than
other objects
Develops concepts and principles
through scientific methods

Pragmatism/Experimentalism
Thinkers

Charles Sanders Peirce

John Dewey

Pragmatism

William James

Richard Rorty

 Assumptions
- Conservative philosophy
- Primarily an American
philosophy.
- Focuses on reflective
thinking. The knowledge
process, the relationship
of ideas into action.
- Encourages people to find
processes that work in
order to attain desired
goals.
- Makes use of experience
as a source of knowledge

 Role of Teachers

- Keeps order in the

class
- Facilitates group
work
- Encourages and
offers suggestions,
questions and help
in planning
- Curriculum planner.

 Models/Strategies
Experimental
Methods
Statement of the
problem
Hypothesizing
Investigating or
data gathering
Testing hypothesis

Forming
conclusions
Creative and
constructive
projects
Field trips
Laboratory work
Activity-centered
Student-centered
activities

 Educational Aim
-For social efficiency.
- Train the students to
continuously and
actively quest for
information and
production of new
ideas needed to
adjust to the everchanging society.

 Curriculum Emphasis
- Creation of new social
order
- Integrated and based on
the problem of society
(NCBTS based).
- Subjects are
interdisciplinary.
- Combined academic and
vocational disciplines.

Role of School
A miniature society
Gives child balance and genuine experience in
preparation for democratic living
A place where ideas are tested, implemented
and restructured
An agency for transmitting heritage
A specialized environmentalist established to
enculturate the young people.

Essentialism
Educational essentialism is an
educational philosophy whose
adherents believe that children
should learn the traditional
basic subjects and that these
should be learned thoroughly
and rigorously. An essentialist
program normally teaches
children progressively, from
less complex skills to more
complex.

Thinkers

Karl Popper

Plato

John Stuart Mill

William Bagley

 Assumptions
- Assumes that values are embedded
in the universe waiting to be
discovered and understood.
- Learning is relatively static, since
there is only one way to understand
the world that is already written in
the book (textbook approach to
learning).
- Study of knowledge and skills based
on the book is imperative to
become productive member of the
society.

 Role of Teachers
- Base the lesson to
the book.
- Prepare wellorganized lesson to
prove that he is an
authority of
instruction.

 Models/Strategies
- Deductive method
- Drill method
- Recitation
-Memorization

 Educational Aim
- Provide sound
training of the
fundamental skills.
- Develop individual
to perform justly,
skillfully and
magnanimously.

 Curriculum
Emphasis
- Natural science and
Math

Progressivism
Educational progressivism is
the belief that education
must be based on the
principle that humans
are social animals who learn
best in real-life activities with
other people.Progressivists,
like proponents of most
educational theories, claim
to rely on the best available
scientific theories of learning

 Most progressive educators

believe that children learn
as if they were scientists,
following a process similar
to John Dewey's model of
learning: 1) Become aware
of the problem. 2) Define
the problem. 3) Propose
hypotheses to solve it. 4)
Evaluate the consequences
of the hypotheses from
one's past experience. 5)
Test the likeliest solution.

Progressivism

Thinkers

William Heard Kilpatrick

John Dewey

Assumptions
Exactly opposite of perennialism.
Assumes that the world changes.
Learner must be taught to be
independent, self-reliant thinker,
learn to discipline himself, be
responsible for the consequences of
his actions.
Emphasize on the concept of
progress which asserts that human
beings are capable of improving and
perfecting their environment.
Curriculum must be derived from
the needs and interests of the
students.

 Role of Teachers
- Acts as a resource person
- Guide or facilitator of learning
(student-centered).
- Teaches students how to learn and
become active problem solvers.
- Teachers provide experiences that
will make students active and not
passive.

 Models/Strategies
- Cooperative learning
strategies
- Reflective strategies
- Problem solving
strategies

 Educational Aim
-To provide the learner
the necessary skills to
be able to interact with
his ever changing
environment.

 Curriculum Emphasis
- Activity and experience
centered on life functions.
- 4 Hs (health, head, heart and
hand)

Reconstructionism
Thinkers

George Sylvester Counts

Theodore Brameld

Reconstructionism
Thinkers

Paulo Reglus Neves Freire

Ivan Illich

 Assumptions
- Man to a significant degree plan
and control his society.
- Society is in need of constant
reconstruction.
- Social change involves a
reconstruction of education
and the use of education in
reconstructing society.
- Mankind has the intellectual,
technological, and moral
potential to create a world
civilization of abundance,
health and human capacity.

 Role of Teachers
- Lead the learners in designing
programs for social,
educational, practical and
economic change.
- Primary agent of social change.
- Initiates lively discussions on
controversial issues, political
and educational.
- Enables the learners to
critically examine their
cultural heritage.

 Models/Strategies
- Community-based
projects
-Problem-oriented
method

Educational Aim
- Education is based on the
quest for better society.
- Education enlivens the
students awareness of
different societal
problems.

 Curriculum Emphasis
- Stresses learning that enable the
individual to live in a global
milieu.
- Controversial national and
international issues.
- Emphasis on social sciences and
social research methods;
examination of social, economic
and political problems.
- Focused on present and future
trends.

Role of School

Primary agent of social change

Venue for airing opinions/ideas
Critical examination of cultural heritage
Center of controversy/problem solving

Existentialism

Thinkers
Soren Aabye Kierkegaard

Jean-Paul Sartre

Existentialism
- strong rejection of the traditional, essentialist
approach to education
- Vocational education is needed more as
means of teaching students about themselves

 Assumptions
- Man has no fixed nature and he
shapes his being as he lives.
- Man exists of his own choice.
- Reality is what you experience.
- School exists to discover and
expand society we live in.
Students study social
experiments and solve
problems.
- Existence precedes essence.

 Role of Teachers
- Good provider of experiences.
- Effective questioner.
- Mental disciplinarian.
- Creates an atmosphere for active
interaction.
- Discuss the different situations
based on each individual
experiences.
- To help students define their own
essence by exposing them to
various path they may take in life.

 Models/Strategies
- Inquiry Approach
- Question-Answer Method

 Educational Aim
- To train an
individual for
significant and
meaningful
existence.

 Curriculum Emphasis
- Subject-centered.
- Arts for aesthetic
expression
- Humanities for ethical
values.
- Philosophy

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idealism
http://saicebrian.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/
philosophical-foundation-of-education/

JANETH G. CONCEPCION

JOY R. TOLOSA